Cowboys open basketball season with practice Friday night

Cowboys head coach Dave Simmons can only hope it doesn’t take all season.

The Cowboys take the court for their
first practice after back-to-back postseason appearances, though it will
be without the
player who led them to those appearances. Richard is training and
awaiting the results of next month’s NBA Developmental League
draft before deciding whether to go that route or head overseas to
commence his pro career.

The pressure will be on returning starting guards Dontae Cannon and Jeremie Mitchell to fill the void.

“We’ve got some kids that can really
fill that role as a leader, but it will be interesting to see who steps
up as we get
to practicing,” Simmons said. “No one has identified himself as
that guy. They’re so young and everybody else is looking to
Dontae and Jeremie for those roles. The biggest thing is seeing
who will be that one guy to challenge them in practice every
day.”

They’ll also be looking for help from some newcomers — guard Ledrick Eackles, who sat out last season after transferring from
Oakland (Mich.) University, freshmen forwards Jordan Wells and Austin Lewis, and 6-foot-7 junior college transfer forward
Pete Kpan.

“We’ve got a good group of young men,” Simmons said. “It’s a lot of young faces. They’re very energetic. We’re going to make
mistakes early. But I think it’s a team that, once we get rolling, we can be very competitive within the schedule.”

The Cowboys open with Louisiana College on Nov. 9 before heading to LSU and first-year Tigers head coach Johnny Jones on Nov.
13.

After their first real practice of the season, the Cowboys will join the two-time defending Southland Conference champion
Cowgirls at Memorial Gym for the annual “Sneak Peek” event.

The Cowgirls have been practicing since Oct. 1, but also have plenty of new faces who fans will be seeing for the first time.
The women’s team has five freshmen and two transfers.